Beside You
by PokerFace312
Summary: Shion gets worried when Nezumi catches a cold, much to the taller boy's annoyance.


Shion weaved through the crowd bustling in the large market, breathing a sigh of relief when he finally saw the decrepit sign for the theater. Nezumi had been sick the last few days, yet he had insisted on going to work as Eve. Even knowing that the raven haired boy would likely berate him for it, Shion had decided to find Nezumi and take him home once the show let out for the night.

Turning into the alley where the theater's staff door was, he stopped in his tracks in response to the sight in front of him.

The play must have finished already, though it shouldn't have for at least another half hour as Shion had been hoping to catch the last bit of it, for Nezumi was already there. It was obvious just be looking at him that he wasn't feeling well though. His hair was out of its usual ponytail, a cold sheen of sweat visible in his bowed brow, and his eyes lacked their usual luster that Shion loved so much.

But what had caused Shion to stop was the heavyset man in front of Nezumi, his face flushed with drunkenness as he leaned his arm on the alley wall, forcing the grey eyed boy against it.

Nezumi had mentioned before that he sometimes had problems with Eve's fans after shows, but it was Shion's first time actually witnessing it and as such, it worried him that Nezumi didn't look like he'd be able to fight this one off. "C'mon Eve, one l'il drink won't hurt, now will it?" the drunk slurred, leaning in towards the boy who turned his face away in annoyance. Seeing this, Shion couldn't help but feel anger rising in his throat.

"Hey!" he yelled, storming forward before he could stop himself, "What do you think you're doing!?"

Both men in front of him turned to look in his direction, apparently not having noticed him before. After a moment, the drunk pushed off from the wall, turning to face Shion as he sauntered up to the boy, Shion halting as he realized just how much larger the guy was. "What was that, kid?" the man snarled, grabbing Shion by his collar so that he had to stand on his toes.

His immediate reaction was to deny having said anything and try to escape, but he couldn't do that. Nezumi was sick and, for all Shion knew, he wouldn't be able to defend himself against this guy. _I have to protect Nezumi_, he thought, hardening his expression. "Leave Nezumi alone."

The man's right arm raised and clenched into a fist. Shion immediately scrunched his eyes shut, bracing himself.

But a moment later, when the punch didn't come, he hesitantly opened one eye, surprised at what he saw.

In front of his eyes was a silver knife, glistening as it pressed against the man's throat. As well, there was now another paler hand wrapped around the man's raised wrist. "Let go of Shion right now or your blood will be giving this alley a new paint job," a cold voiced threatened.

Shion was quickly dropped and the knife vanished. Realizing this, the man ran passed Shion out onto the main street, right hand clasped to his neck.

As soon as the drunk was out of sight, Nezumi slumped back against the wall, the hand holding the knife dropping to his side as his body was racked with coughs.

"Are you alright?" Shion exclaimed, dashing to support the boy as he began slipping down the wall.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Nezumi demanded between coughs.

"I… I was worried something might happen since you weren't feeling well…" Shion said nervously, stepping closer to help the boy but afraid to look at Nezumi's eyes and the ice they likely beheld.

"You think I can't handle myself?" Nezumi's head snapped up, his expression fiercer than Shion had expected.

"No! Of course you can! I just… Is it wrong of me to worry?"

The taller boy responded only with a sigh, pushing off the wall and trudging in the direction of their small home, Shion following a ways behind.

"I really am sorry about earlier…" Shion stated a few hours later, returning to his spot beside Nezumi on their couch after having cleared away the dishes they had just finished eating from. Neither of them had brought it up since they returned home, but even so Shion could tell that the other boy was still annoyed at the event. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

A soft sigh followed by a couple quiet coughs were Nezumi's only response. Instead of saying anything, he swivelled around, kicking his feet onto the end of the couch so that he could lay down on his side, his head resting on Shion's lap. After a moment of surprise, the red eyed boy started playing with Nezumi's long hair, murmuring just above a whisper, "I'm sorry for worrying so much…"

"…You shouldn't be," Nezumi said quietly after a few moments' silence, "I was the one in the wrong. You were only being concerned for my safety. I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that." A gentle smile spread on Shion's lips, and he slowly bent his head to press them against Nezumi's head. Just as he started to pull away, Nezumi rolled over so that he was lying on his back before reaching up to pull Shion's own head back down, this time pressing his lips against the white haired boy's.

The two simply sat there in silence for a little while, each gazing into the other's eyes as Shion gently caressed Nezumi's soft hair, when a sudden thought sprung into Shion's mind. "Why were you already out there when I arrived, anyway? Wasn't the play still supposed to still be going on at that point?"

Nezumi averted his eyes quickly, but not before Shion caught sight of a look of unease that flashed across them.

"Did something happen?" Concern was growing in Shion once more. He didn't like when Nezumi hid things from him. It reminded him too much of the time when he'd tried to sneak away to the Correctional Facility without Nezumi knowing.

"It was nothing…." Nezumi muttered, rolling back over.

"Hey! Look at me, Nezumi! Something happened, didn't it?" The hand that he'd been using to pet Nezumi's hair moved to the boy's cheek, pulling his head back over so that his red eyes met with Nezumi's grey ones.

The dark haired boy pressed his lips together, averting his eyes once more before saying quietly, "I passed out on stage, alright? They had to stop the show because of it."

"You _what_? Are you okay!?" Panic bubbled up in Shion and his eyes started darting around Nezumi's body, trying to see if there were any visible cuts or bruises that he might have gotten when he fainted.

"I'm fine. Stop being so overdramatic."

"You fainted! Isn't it only natural that I worry about you!? Remember the last time you fainted on stage!?"

"I'm fine!" Nezumi insisted, standing up so quickly that he nearly hit Shion. With a huff, he stormed towards the door, shoving on his jacket as he did so.

"Where are you going!?" Shion protested, jumping up quickly and trying to grab Nezumi's arm to stop him, only to be quickly shaken off.

"Out." With that single word, the door slammed shut and Nezumi was gone.

He was being stupid and he knew it. He'd accused Shion of overreacting only moments before and now he was doing just that. But he didn't turn back. He kept walking in no particular direction. He just needed some time to himself.

The moment the door slammed to a close behind Nezumi, Shion yanked it back open. He didn't run after the departing boy though. Seeing Nezumi walk away from him without any sign that he was going to turn back around, Shion was overcome with a sense of terrible familiarity.

Suddenly what he saw before him was no longer the stone passageway that lead outside. Instead, he found himself standing on a dusty hill, the sun shining down on him and the wind whipping his hair against his face as he watched Nezumi leave.

He shook his head violently, clearing his mind of the thought. That wasn't what was happening. Nezumi wasn't leaving again. He'd promised he wouldn't. He had just gone out in order to calm down. He'd be back as soon as he'd done that.

Yet somehow Shion got the feeling that if he didn't chase after him, he would never see Nezumi again.

He continued to stand there debating whether to try to find him, for how long, he didn't know. He could've been standing there in the open doorway for seconds or hours. It seemed as it time as simply ceased to exist for him.

Finally, he couldn't handle it any longer. Taking a deep breath, he shut the door behind him and sprinted in the direction Nezumi had gone, praying that by some miracle he'd be able to find him.

Nezumi stopped walking to lean against the cold wall of the alley he was walking in, realizing that he'd somehow ended up back near the theater. It must have just been out of habit. He was so used to walking to and from work that he'd simply walked there without thinking.

He was suddenly hit by a wave of nausea coupled with light headedness, forcing him to remember the fact that he was still sick. He shouldn't have left. He should return to Shion already. The airhead was probably worried about him by now anyway.

As he tried to push off the wall though, darkness suddenly clouded his vision and his legs began to shake. _Damn… Don't faint again… _He leaned against the wall again, this time resting his forehead on the cold stone.

A moment later, the sound of laughing could be heard and he turned his head to see two middle aged men entering the alley, each with an almost empty beer bottle in hand. Not wanting to appear weak, he slowly turned around so that his back was against the wall, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he silently begged his legs not to give out on him.

"Oi, isn't that Eve?" he heard one of the men say to the other as they passed him, and Nezumi realized with a start that he hadn't tied his hair back up, making it much easier to recognize him as his stage persona, realizing in the same instant that he also had left his switch knife on the table back home. Dammit. How careless could he be? A little too quickly, he pushed off from the wall once more, ignoring the ringing in his ears and instead focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.

"Where d'ya think you're going, there?" the other man's gruff voice asked, a moment before a hand grabbed Nezumi's shoulder, shoving him back against the wall. "We were pretty disappointed by the show tonight, y'know," the man continued, not removing his hand, "We couldn't help but feel a bit ripped off at that. Maybe you should pay us back."

"Sorry, but I don't have any money on me at the moment," Nezumi explained, trying with no avail to wiggle free of the man's grasp. The voices were starting to sound like they were coming from the other end of a tunnel, making Nezumi wonder just how long it would be until he wound up losing consciousness again.

"S'alright. We actually had another means a' payment in mind anyway…"

Nezumi's eyes widened as the two men grinned broadly. He wasn't used to not being able to fight back and for the first time since escaping the Correctional Facility, he actually found himself feeling frightened. The next thing he knew, he was being forced to the ground, his head hitting the cement hard as his limbs were held down. He tried to cry out, but a hand covered his mouth before he could do so, leaving his able to do nothing more than wince as another cold hand slithered down the hem of his pants.

_No! This can't be happening! Stop! Stop it! Someone help me, please! Someone! SHION!_

The white haired boy dashed down the dark street, hoping that by some miracle he'd be able to find Nezumi. He'd been running for a good half hour now, checking everywhere he could think of. The last place he had left to look was the theater, which he was now only half a block away from. Slowing to a walk, he took a moment to catch his breath before calling the named he must had said a hundred times that night.

"Nezumi!"

Nezumi's scrunched eyes flew open at the sound of a familiar voice yelling his name. That was Shion wasn't it? Shion was somewhere nearby.

Trying to ignore the fog that the fever was casting over his mind, Nezumi opened his mouth as wide as the hand would allow him to and bit down as hard as he could on the man's flesh. With a low cry, the man pulled his hand back.

"SHION!" The scream ripped from his throat barely a second before the hand slammed back down, knocking his head against the concrete hard enough to cause stars to float in front of his eyes. His vision clouded. He was passing out again. If he had merely imagined Shion's voice, these guys wouldn't have anything stopping them from having their way with him.

Holding onto his last piece of hope, Nezumi felt his consciousness slip away.

"Nezumi! Nezumi, are you okay?"

Nezumi opened his eyes to see a familiar face floating before his own. "…Shi…on?" he asked groggily, "Wha… Why are we out-" He cut himself off as the memories came flooding back, whipping his head around to try to find the men who had attacked him.

"It's okay, Nezumi. They're gone now." Shion assured him.

"But how? Are you sure they're gone?"

Shion looked sheepish for a moment before giving an answer. "…I fought them off."

"You what?"

"Well… Yeah. I mean, I'm nowhere near as good a fighter as you, but you're taught me a fair bit in the time I've been with you, so…"

Nezumi was dumbfounded, amazed that the innocent boy in front of him had been able to do something like that. "You… Wow. Wait, are you alright? They didn't do anything to you did they?"

"You're one to talk!" Shion scolded. "You storm out acting all high and mighty despite being sick, and then what happens? I find you knocked out, being assaulted by a couple of horny drunkards!"

"Hey!" Nezumi exclaimed, wanting to protest, but unable to deny that Shion was right. He had been acting childish and he had gotten in trouble because of it. "…I'm sorry," he whispered, bowing his head.

"I'm sorry too," Shion said quietly, pulling Nezumi into an embrace. "I overreacted earlier. I should've known that you wouldn't want me putting myself in harm's way because of you."

He didn't know how to respond. Shion shouldn't have been blaming himself. Nezumi was the one at fault here, not Shion.

"But you know," Shion continued, ducking his head, "Sometimes it's nice to have someone you can rely on." The boy looked up slightly at this, his red eyes peering at Nezumi through his bangs.

"Shion…"

"Come on," he said, standing up. "It's late. We should be heading home." He held out a hand, offering it to Nezumi, who just stared at it for a moment before taking it.

_Yeah… _he thought as the two walked back together, Shion supporting Nezumi, as he was still feeling a bit dizzy. _It is nice having someone there for you._

* * *

_**A/N:**__ I keep uploading fics onto my blog and then I forget to put them on here... Jeez... Anyway, I wrote this a little under a week ago after coming across the first scene while flipping through some old notebooks. I spent a good five or six hours on this thing since I kept getting stuck, so hopefully you guy enjoyed it. _

No. 6 was created by Atsuko Asano and is owned by her and BONES. I own nothing but my imagination._  
_


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